"Oh right, there's one more thing I should mention."
Inside the laboratory, Mobius seemed to suddenly recall something and added a remark to An Xora and Lappland.
"Possibly because we used your genes as the base material, Master—after the surgery, all the fused genes inside her body achieved an exceptionally perfect balance. While inside her, they're extremely stable. However, once they leave her body and enter another organism, they immediately display intense aggressiveness."
"Based on this principle, if done intentionally, Miss Lappland could forcibly transform others using her own genes, turning them into weakened versions of Fusion Warriors. Their strength would be several tiers below a standard Fusion Warrior, but if you compare them to ordinary troops or cannon fodder, they'd still count as extremely strong."
"Moreover, anyone transformed this way would form a relationship similar to that between you and Miss Lappland. Not only would they be able to sense the subject's thoughts to a certain degree, but if necessary, the subject could directly seize control. Their life and death would be entirely in the hands of the controller—no need to worry about betrayal."
"Besides Lappland herself needing to control the process, are there any other requirements for this kind of transformation?"
After listening to Mobius, An Xora asked.
"If we're talking about requirements…" Mobius mused.
"The success rate isn't one hundred percent. In theory, the closer the target's genetic similarity to Miss Lappland, the higher the success rate. In other words, the candidates should ideally be limited to her own race—and preferably the same sex as well."
"So that's basically equivalent to creating a brand-new Terra godfolk race out of thin air?"
Only female Lupo could be transformed. Their strength would far surpass that of normal races, and they'd possess all kinds of special abilities.
In other words, with nothing more than a Fusion Warrior surgery, Mobius had effectively created the conditions for a new branch of Lupo godfolk. As long as Lappland wanted to, she could raise an entirely new race upon returning to Terra.
No—calling them merely godfolk wasn't even accurate enough.
After all, some godfolk races were frankly underwhelming. But Fusion Warriors—even weakened versions—had an extremely solid lower bound.
"What exactly they'll be like… why don't you just go back and test it yourselves?"
Mobius smiled.
"While you're at it, bring me the detailed process and some blood samples afterward."
"That makes sense. Then we'll head back to Terra and give it a try."
An Xora nodded. He opened the system interface, selected the traversal option, and directly grabbed Lappland, returning to the Arknights world.
Yan, Lungmen.
Reappearing in the mobile city, An Xora glanced at the sky—it was already deep into the night, close to dawn.
After a brief scan, he brought Lappland straight to Talulah's residence.
"What's going on?"
After having a long, heartfelt dinner with her long-unseen uncle and aunt, then chatting late into the night, Talulah had just lain down to rest in the room Wei Yenwu had arranged for her.
Half-asleep, she suddenly sensed a presence entering her room and immediately sat up.
But upon recognizing An Xora's familiar aura, she relaxed again, her eyes half-lidded as she weakly asked why he'd come to find her in the middle of the night.
"Don't tell me no one arranged rooms for you, so you've come to sleep with me?"
As if struck by inspiration, Talulah patted the bed beneath her.
"This place has a pretty big bed. Three people can definitely fit. If you don't mind, An Xora, you can sleep here with me."
"I've heard that in Yan, benevolent rulers sometimes sleep foot-to-foot with trusted ministers. Let's try it tonight and see how it feels."
Seeing Talulah suddenly looking rather enthusiastic, An Xora silently shook his head.
"Actually, we're here to ask Ata to issue an order to the Empire. Have them secretly gather a group of female Lupo in the city closest to Lungmen. Let's keep the number under a thousand for now."
"Gather a thousand female Lupo?"
Talulah looked at An Xora, then her expression suddenly lit up with realization.
"Ohhh, I see. That's not a big deal—but a thousand female Lupo? An Xora, can your body handle that? Maybe we should cut it down a bit. I'll start with a hundred. If it's not enough, I'll order more."
"Oh, right—and didn't you say before that you wanted a Feline maid corps? After we wiped out the duke coalition, I didn't get the chance to arrange it before you left. Why don't I take care of that this time too?"
Seeing Talulah's thoughts veering further and further off course, An Xora twitched at the corner of his mouth and pulled Lappland closer.
"Let me clarify first—those Lupo aren't for me. They're for the dog I'm raising."
As he spoke, An Xora explained everything Mobius had said earlier.
"So you're creating a new godfolk race…"
After hearing the full explanation, Talulah immediately understood and nodded.
"In that case, I'll issue the order to the Empire right away and have them prepare."
With Talulah's help secured and his objective achieved, An Xora left with Lappland—though before departing, he used the card Sakura had given him to bestow Grace upon Talulah.
Unlike when he entered earlier—slipping in instantly using his own strength and the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—this time, An Xora left openly, strolling out through the main gate of Talulah's residence with Lappland in tow.
The guards outside were all female personal soldiers handpicked by Talulah herself. They'd been warned that Her Majesty held Lord An Xora in extremely high regard. So although they were surprised to see him leave the residence late at night, they still saluted respectfully.
However, several Black Hats stationed on rooftops hundreds of meters away—tasked by Wei Yenwu with guarding the outer perimeter—nearly popped their eyes out.
When did this man get in?
How had they not noticed a thing?
The next day, Lungmen.
Because the gathering was to be done in secret, the Empire would need three days to make preparations. Coincidentally, Talulah intended to stay in Lungmen for several days to oversee the cooperation anyway.
So An Xora decided to remain in Lungmen as well, planning to properly enjoy the city.
For reasons unknown, after learning that An Xora intended to tour Lungmen, Wei Yenwu seemed to suffer some kind of mental lapse. Instead of accompanying Talulah, he rushed over, thumping his chest and declaring that he knew Lungmen like the back of his hand—and that he'd personally act as An Xora's tour guide.
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